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Poll: Americans cool to border-crossing children

SAN DIEGO (AP) - Americans are wary of granting refugee status to children who are crossing the U.S. border to flee strife-torn countries in Central America. And most in an Associated Press-GfK poll say the U.S. does not have a moral obligation to accept asylum-seekers generally.

The poll found 53 percent of Americans believe the United States has no moral obligation to offer asylum to people who escape violence or political persecution, while 44 percent believe it has that responsibility. And more than half, 52 percent, say children who say they are fleeing gang violence in Central America should not be treated as refugees.

The responses expose a partisan rift, with 70 percent of Republicans saying the children should not be treated as refugees, compared with 62 percent of Democrats who believe they should.